Apparatus for coating articles



Dec. 6, 1927.

O. J. ALLERTON APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES Filed Deo. 14, 1925 E Sheeis-Sheet l Dec. 6, 1927.

o. J. VALLERTQN APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 x l r l 1 l Filed Dec. 6, 1927.

O. J. ALLERTON APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES Filed Dec. 14, 1925 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 vestense oec. s, 1927. t

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

osCAa I. ALLEBTON, bis* CHICAGO, ILLINOIs, AssIefNoJal 'ro 'ran nommen: anon COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OI' ILLINOIS.

APPARATUSFOR COATING ARTICLES.

Applicationilled December 14, 1925. Serial No. 75,247.

yMy invention relates to apparatus for coating articles, and consists of mechanism which carries the article to be coated to the place of coating where it is sprayed and later dried during a single operation.

The object of my invention `is to provide an apparatus for coating articles by a spraying method, transferring them to a poi-nt where they are dried during travel, and then depositing them in a bin. or hopper during the course of one operation. The apparatus herein disclosed is primarily intended to coat with glue, heels, bases, etc.. used-in the manufacture of shoes, and to then dry the same so that they can be spotted onto thc body of the shoe when desired.

A :further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus where, by a continuous conveyor belt, the articles to be coated are passed first under a spraying apparatus where they are covered with the material with which they are to be coated, then continuing to Convey them through an etlicient drying chamber, and finally depositing them in a bin.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a means for keeping the conveyor belt clean so that all the surplus coating material is removed therefrom before it is returnd to the point where uncoated articles are again placed thereon.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages ofthe invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of my improved apparatus for coating articles,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view 'of one end of my improved apparatus with some of the parts removed to show the driving mechanism for the severalelements required to be driven in the operation thereof.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View onthe lines 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a like view taken on the lines 5-5 of Fig. 1, and v Fig. 6 is a detailed view; of the drying rolls and the adjusting mechanism for the conveyor belt.

. attached thereto in a Like symbols ofreference herein indicate i vlikeparts in each of the figures of the draw- .ularlyin Fig. 1, my improved apparatus for coating articles has its various parts mounted on the frame 11 which is built up primarily of angle bars.- For the purpose of better describing the apparatus shown, we will assume that the same is to be used Ifor the purpose of coating heels for shoes with a coating of glue. After coating, it is necessary to dry the same before they are taken from the apparatus, so that they can be our# ried to the lace where they are spotted onto the body otP the shoe, at which timethe glue dried condition is moistened, so that when spotted, they take immediate hold upon the shoe body at the point desired. For the purpose of illustration, let us consider that the table 12 at the front o'f the Amachine built on an suitable `frame work 13, is adapted by its ibrward end 14 to extend slightlyabove the Conveyor belt 16. This belt passes around the roll 17 and onto the table 18 supported on the frame 11 around the roller 19 at the rear of the machine, thence around the roller 21 and the adjustable roller 22. From the, adjustable roller-22, it passes to the adjustable roller 23. thence upwardly to the roller 24 and back to the roller 17. he belt is Continuous in its movement and is operated very slowly, so as to permit the proper coating of the heels with fish glue and thoroughl drying the heel before it drops from the be t. his low speed is accomplished by means of the motor 26 which has a small gear 27 on the shaft thereof, and this gear' meshes with a large gear 28 which passes into a reducing mechanism 29. The reduction between the gears 27 and 28 is probably on the ratio of 30 to 1, while the reduction in the reducing mechanism 29 is on the ratio of 50 to 1. Thev shaft 31 extends Afrom the reducing mechanism 29 under and-` through the frame 11, and has a sprocket 32 connected at the outer end thereo This sprocket is provided with a sprocketchain 33 which passes over a larger sprocket 34 on the shaft 36 carrying the roller 17 which carries the belt 16. The

and the booth proper consists of sheet metal` or other'material which extends over and forms a cover for a certain portion of the belt 16, as it asses thereunder. able point on t e frame 38 of the spray booth 37 is a spraying apparatus 39 which is pivotally connected to said frame at the point' 41, and this spraying device may be of any desired construction, and no invention is contemplated or a claim made as to any novelty contained therein, so that any well known form of spray device, which will effectually spray the larticles as the pass thereunder .on the conveyor belt, may e used for this purpose.

'- The spraying apparatus 39, through its pivotal connection 41 with the frame y37,

must be adapted to be turned so that the direction of the streams 45 from the valves 46 can be directed upon the articles being coated, at any desired angle. This pivotal movement is necessary, as will later be explained.

On the rear end of the spraying booth 37 is a bracket 42 which is adapted to carry a motor 43, and this motor has a shaft extending into the interior of the said booth, while a fan is located on said shaft in a suitable position to create a suction in the said booth so that the odors from the glue or other coating material may be drawn upward and passed out through the flue 44.\

The lower front portion of the spraying booth 37 is providedwith an opening 47,

' through which air is drawn within the same,

while the sides of the lsaid booth have longitudinal openings 48 along the side thereof, as later explained. u

Beyondthe booth 37 is the drying apparatus 49 which consists of a pair of iues 50,

each decreasing in cross-sectional 'area' towards its outer end and connected at the forward end with a ysemi-circular portion 51. This semi-circular portion is somewhat increased in size at one side of the same to provide space for means for heating the air within said flue. While in the present drawing I have shown a series of coiled steam pipes 52, I do not limit,- myself to any particular means of heating the",air` within the flue, as electric grids, hot air, steam or other At a suit-4A methods may be used as desired. At the other side of the semi-circular portion 51, and 1ocated onthe center line of the interior of said portion and without the same, a small niotor 52 is located, and this motor has a shaft 53 which extends into the interior oi' said portion and has affixed to the end of the vshaft and in the center of said portion a fan 54 forcirculating the air in said drying apparatus 49. By reference to Figure 5, the ues 5() will be seen and the plate 56 extending between andA under the saine is provided with openings 57 to permit the warmed air lfrom the flues to pass within the chamber 58 formed between the plate 56, and the top of the belt with warm circulating air. These openings 57 are preferably circular in shape, and' are in practice about 12 inches between centers. The chamber 58 is free at both ends of the drying apparatus 49 for the admission of air thereto which causes an airchange serving as a means of eliminating moisture from the drier.

The roller 19 is located in a housing 59 which is slidably mounted and `is adjusted' by means of a screw 61, so that the belt may be tightened at any time to take up excessive slack in the saine. u

At a osition immediately under the spray booth 3 and in the lower part of the framework is a water tank 62 which contains a series of circular brushes 63, each mounted on a shaft 64 which is journaled in the housings 66, and said shaft extends beyond the frame 11 of the machine and through the housing` 67 and on the end thereof is a beveled gear 68 which meshes with abeveled gear 69 on the shaft 71. This shaft 71 is provided with suitable bearin s 72 throughout the lengthof the same or supporting it at a point near where the bevelled ears 69 are applied, and is supported near its front end in the housing 73 and provided at the extreme front end with the large gear 74 which meshes with a small gear 76 on the rear end of the speed reducer 29, but the speed of this small gear 76 is not reduced, so that the said glear travels at the same rate of speed as the riving gear 28 of the reducer. The rollers 21 and 24 are provided with shafts 77 and 78 which are rotatably fixed in the housings '79 and 81 respectively, which said housings are securely lixed to some portion of the frame 11 asrequired. The rollers 22 and 23 areI vertically adjustable through the bearings 82 and 83 which are slidably mounted in the guides 84 and 86, and these bearings are adjustable by means of the adjusting screws 87 and 88, in order that the belt 16 may be submerged in the water in the tank 62 and lowered to get a good contact with \the brushes therein. These rollers22 and 23 extend into the tank 62, and the belt is lowered in order to give its undersurfa'ce (which will be the upper surface during the coatingv operation) a good contact with the bristles ya pair of slide rails 91v extending between the angle bars 92 and 93 ofthe frame 11, and in which are mounted the bearings 94 and 96. These bearings are adapted to provide for the shafts 97 and 98 of the rollers 99 and 100; which are rubber-covered, and the distance between the same is regulated by means of the regulating screws 101 and 102, so thatthe belt 16 will be absolutely free from water after passing through the said rubber covered rolls.

The o eration of my improved apparatus for coatlng articles is as follows:

For descriptive purposes, we will presume that the machine is beingused for the purpose of placing fish glue in a liquid state on leather heels, and the glue is dried therekon before leaving the apparatus. The table '12 contains raw heels and an operator places the heels in rows such as is shown in Fig. 3. and designated by the numeral 103 upon the belt in close relation to each other, the

ybelt moving in the direction shown inthe arrow A. The spraying device 39 can be set so that the jets l therefrom can strike the heels at any desired angle by means of moving the bars 104 on the pivotalfpoint 41 to anyl desired position. As the heels pass the jets of liquid fish glue, they are covered on'their upper face, i. e., the face which is later to be connected to theshoe body, with a thorough coating of the glue. They then coiitinuealong through the opening 47 into lthe spray booth 37. As the fan 43 in said booth is being rotated by means of the motor 105, a suction will be created in the booth which will draw air from the atmosphere through the opening 47 and through the longitudinal holes 48 near the lower edge of the same, and will pass the fumes into the flue 44 where they may beexhausted into the at mosphere, or consumed., The slots or openings47 in the side of the booth not only prevent glue or coating material from adhering to the side of the booth, but prevent the suc- .y tion caused by the fan from turning or agitating the articles out of position. This is a very important feature in that the excessive glue has naturally fallen onto the belt around the articles and if they are agitated so that their under surfaces come in contact with the glue'on the belt, they will, after passing through the drying process be firmly glued to the belt and will not leave the same at the desired point.` A considerable portion of the excessglue will also be caught `by the suction and will be deposited in the flue from which it 'can be removed in the form of powder.

From beneaththe booth 37 the heels continue along on the beltl 16 and enter `the lchamber 58 beneath the drying apparatus 58 down the leg or 'flue 50, and as the cross sectional area, of the said' flue decreases in size throng lout its length, there` will be a tendency to back-up or restrict this warm air so that it will pass down through the openings 57 in thebottom plate 56 of said flue and bedriven over to the opposite leg 50 where it will enter through the openings 57 and be drawn Forward by means of the fan 54 operated therein. It will thus be seen that a lconstant current of warmed air will be. kept circulating from the flue 50 to the glue on said heels, by the time said heels reach the rear end of said lues, is perfectly dried and the heels then drop off the belt into a container ot any kind provided to receive the same and not here shown. The belt then continues over the roller 59 and to the roller 21 and passes downward over the roller 22 into the water lilled tank 62.

During the time that `the belt is Sub merged in the water of the tank 62 it is thoroughly brushed and cleansed of all excess glue which has fallen thereon when passing the spraying device 39, and when it reaches the roll 23. it entirely cleansed, and it then passes upwardly through the rubber covered articles may be finished in a very short space' of time and with great uniformity of coat ingand drying. v

It will also be seen that with the combination of gears for operating thebrushes 63 in the tank 62, they will be rotated in a direction opposite to the direction of the travel of the belt. 16, so that when a series of these brushesare used, the belt will be thoroughly cleansed during its course through the tank,

and when it has passed through the squeezing or wringing device 89 and has rounded the roller 17 it will be perfectly clean to receive the row of heels which will therefore be prevented from sticking to the same. This is al particular feature in connection with this machine, in that, if glue in its moistened` condition was left upon the belt when it received the heels 103, the lower sides would adhere thereto and the glue `Would' be dried when they pass through the drying ap aratus 49, and when they came to the rol er 19 they `would be prevented from leaving the belt by reason of I:their adherence thereto.

It is evident that the belt 16, by the reduction gears which have been shown and described, and also by the speed reducer 29, which has been placed between the motor 26 and operating parts, travels at an extremely low rate of speed, which gives the articles laced thereon sutlicient time -to be suf- Eciently sprayed when passing under the spraying device 4, and to be suiiiciently dried when passing under the drying apparatus.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of operation and many of its inherent advantages, will be understood from the foregoing Without further description, and it should be manifest that the details illustrated' and described may be varied Within Wide limits so that I do not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described, but claim as my invention all devices which may fall Within the spirit` of the matter shown and described and particularly point ed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for coating articles, coinprising a continuous conveyor belt for carrying articles to be coated, a spraying device for coating said articles, means for drying said coated articles, and a series of brushes rotating contrary to the direction of travel of said belt to remove the superiuous coating material from said belt.

2. An apparatus for coatingarticles, comprising a continuous conveyor belt for carrying articles vto be coated, a spraying device for coating said articles, a spray' booth for removing the odor of the coating material, means for drying said coated articles, and a series of brushes rotating contrary to the direction of travel of said belt to remove he superfluous coating material from said elt.

3. An apparatus for coating articles, ,com-

prising a continuous conveyor belt for carrying articles to be coated, a spraying device for coating said articles, means for drying said coated articles, a series of brushes rotating contrary to the direction of travel of said belt to remove the superuous coating material from said belt, and means for removing the Water from said belt after said l cleansing operation.

4. An apparatus for coating articles, comprising -a continuous `conveyor belt for carrying articles to be coated, a spraying fdevice for coating'said articles, means extending over a portion of the belt, suction means within said last named means for removing the odors of the coating material, means for drying said coated artlclcs, a tank containing Water through which said belt passes, brushes in said tank for acting uponsaid belt during its passage through said tank, and means for removing the Water from said belt after its passage through said tank.

5. An apparatus for coating articles, comprising a continuous conveyor belt for carrying articles to be coated, a spraying device for coatin said articles, means for drying said coated articles, a series of brushes rotatin said belt to remove the superfluous coating material from said belt, and rubber covered rolls for removing theV Water from said belt after said cleansing operation.

6. An apparatusfor coating articles, comprising a continuous conveyor belt for carrying articles to be coated, a spraying device for coating said articles, means extending over a portion of the belt, suction means Within said last named means for removingthe odors of the coating material, means for drying said coated articles, a tank containing Water through which said belt passes, brushes in said tank for actin@ upon said beltduring its passage throug said tank, andrubber covered rolls for removing the water from said belt after its passage through said tank.

7. An apparatus for coating articles, comprising a continuous conveyor belt for carrying articles to be coated, a spraying device for coating said articles, a booth containing suction means for removing the odors of the coating material, and horizontal openings in said booth to prevent the suction for agitating the articles on said belt.

8. An apparatus for coating articles, comprising a continuous conveyor belt for carrying articles to be coated, a spraying device for coatin said articles, means for drying said coatedZ articles, means for cleansing said belt of all superfiuous coating material, and a pair of adJustably mounted rubber covered rolls for removing the water from said belt after said cleansing operation.

In Witness of the foregoing I ax my signature.

OSCAR J. ALLERTON.

contrary to the direction of travel of 

